FAF1 mediates necrosis through JNK1-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction leading to retinal degeneration in the ganglion cell layer upon ischemic insult.

BACKGROUND: Aberrant cell death induced by ischemic stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic diseases. Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) has been identified as a death-promoting protein. This study demonstrates that FAF1 functions in death signaling triggered by ischemic insult. METHODS: The expression changes of FAF1 and phophorylated JNK1 were detected by Western blotting. Immunoprecipitation was employed to investigate protein-protein interaction. We determined the cell death using flow cytometry and lactate dehydrogenase release measurement. To validate the death-promoting role of FAF1 in the retina, we generated conditional retinal FAF1 knockout mice. We used hematoxylin and eosin staining to detect retinal cell death in retinal ganglion cell layer. RESULTS: FAF1 was found to function upstream of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1), followed by mitochondrial dysregulation and necrotic cell death processes upon ischemic insult. We investigated whether FAF1 is involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic diseases using a retinal ischemia model. Indeed, FAF1 potentiated necrosis through JNK1 activation upon ischemic stress in retinal cells demonstrating retinal ganglion-like character. Conditional FAF1 depletion attenuated JNK1 activation in the retinas of Dkk3-Cre;Faf1flox/flox mice and ameliorated death of retinal cells due to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that FAF1 plays a key role in ischemic retinal damage and may be implicated in the pathogenesis of retinal ischemic disease.

Design and synthesis of fluorescent and biotin tagged probes for the study of molecular actions of FAF1 inhibitor.

To study the molecular action of ischemic Fas-mediated cell death inhibitor, we prepared fluorescent-tagged and biotin-tagged probes of the potent inhibitor, KR-33494, of ischemic cell death. We used the molecular modeling technique to find the proper position for attaching those probes with minimum interference in the binding process of probes with Fas-mediated cell death target, FAF1.

Subacute toxicity evaluation of KR-33493, FAF1 inhibitor for a new anti-parkinson's disease agent, after oral administration in rats and dogs.

KR33493, a newly developed FAS-associated factor 1 (FAF1) inhibitor for Parkinson's disease, is being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial. In the present study, the subchronic toxicity of KR33493 in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and beagle dogs was investigated at various oral doses for 28 and 14 days, respectively. During the study, food consumption, body weights, organ weights, gross findings, and mortality were examined; and ophthalmoscopy, electrocardiography, hematology, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, histopathology, and toxicokinetics were performed. In rats, weight gain decreased in both sexes at 500 mg/kg/day, with no significant differences. In dogs, some significant differences compared with the control were found during the trial; however, at the end of recovery periods, these were no longer observed and there was no dose correlation. Some histopathological findings were observed, but these were considered as incidental changes. Since no other significant changes were observed, doses above 500 and 1000 mg/kg KR33493 in rat and dogs, respectively, caused no observed adverse effects. Therefore, based on these results, the Phase 1 clinical trial for KR33493 was approved by the Korean Food & Drug Administration.

FAF1 mediates regulated necrosis through PARP1 activation upon oxidative stress leading to dopaminergic neurodegeneration.

Cumulative damage caused by oxidative stress results in diverse pathological conditions. Therefore, elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying cell death following oxidative stress is important. Here, we describe a novel role for Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) as a crucial regulator of necrotic cell death elicited by hydrogen peroxide. Upon oxidative insult, FAF1 translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and promoted the catalytic activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) through physical interaction. Moreover, FAF1 depletion prevented PARP1-linked downstream events involved in the triggering of cell death, including energetic collapse, mitochondrial depolarization and nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), implying that FAF1 has a key role in PARP1-dependent necrosis in response to oxidative stress. We further investigated whether FAF1 might contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease through excessive PARP1 activation. Indeed, the overexpression of FAF1 using a recombinant adeno-associated virus system in the mouse ventral midbrain promoted PARP1 activation and dopaminergic neurodegeneration in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Collectively, our data demonstrate the presence of an FAF1-PARP1 axis that is involved in oxidative stress-induced necrosis and in the pathology of Parkinson's disease.